Chapter 3: The Journey Begins.
When Jo had said the vehicle she was waiting for was a rolling fortress, she hadn't been joking. The thing was twice the size of a Humvee, yet extremely mobile. It was an amphibious vehicle as well. The metal it was made of was indestructible and the windshield and windows were indestructible fiberglass. The eight tires could sprout gripping spikes or turn into waterwheel-like paddles. There were only four points of entry or exit; the two standard driver and passenger doors, the hatch on the rear, and the turret hatch on the top.
This monster was armed as well as armored. There was a 50 cal. full auto machine gun that could be mounted on a 360ยบ rail mount around the turret hatch and there were all kinds of firearms, explosives and weapons of all kinds stashed in various racks built into the interior of the walls.
Lara was impressed with the wide variety of weapons in the beast, but what impressed her even more was the fully functional archeology lab. Also, there was a full yet compact film lab, a supercomputer, and living quarters.
"Girls, I give you the M.A.T.E.V. The Mutant All Terrain Exploration Vehicle." Jo grinned as she leaned against the side of the huge vehicle.
"Well, let's get going," said Lara tossing her pack in a compartment.
"Think you got enough junk, Sam?" Jo asked, chuckling as Sam struggled to fit her four suitcases in a compartment.
"Hey! At least one of us has to bring a decent wardrobe." Sam laughed.
Jo and Lara laughed as Jo climbed into the driver's seat and Lara closed and locked the doors. After a few more minutes of struggling Sam managed to get her stuff stashed and sat in the seat behind Jo. Lara sat in the passenger seat and pulled out one of her father's journals as Jo started the M.A.T.E.V. and the journey began. She had retrieved his notes and journals from Croft Manor while Jo was waiting for the M.A.T.E.V. Now, she poured over the contents, searching for some clue as to where to start.
Richard Croft kept detailed notes, but they were in a system all his own. Lara knew the answers she sought were inside, but the passages of the journals made no mention of anything she didn't already know. The parts she could read that is. Lord Croft had developed his own language. Not a code, not a cypher, but a language that only he could understand. Or so people claimed. Ofttimes as a child, Lara had seen him make notes and entries in this language, but she never could grasp it. Now she stared at the meaningless words as if looking at them long and hard enough would grant her understanding.
"You'll give yourself a headache if you stare at those pages too long," Jo said suddenly.
"I have to decipher my father's language if we ever hope to find out what he was doing and where. It will save us valuable time," said Lara.
"That's easy. He just used the Cordoni Speech," said Jo.
"What?! You mean to tell me you could read this all along and you didn't tell me?!" Lara exclaimed furiously.
"You never asked." Jo shrugged as she turned her attention back to the road.
Lara slumped back, very much annoyed with her friend.
"Hey, where are we going anyway?" Sam asked, trying to ease the tension.
"Rentok Island. But first, we're gonna pay a long over due visit to an old friend," said Jo.
Author's Note: I am completely rewriting this story so this version is being discontinued. The new version will take place after the second game in the reboot series and I'm going to wait until I completely finish the story before I start posting it so I don't run out of finished chapters to post like last time.